Tired
by SafeKept
Summary: Jeremy is out for the day at the park with the Flynn-Fletchers, but he can't seem to find Candace anywhere. One-shot, slight Canderemy.


Disclaimer: I do not own Phineas and Ferb

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><p>The sun shone heavily down, gorgeously warm on the fresh, slightly damp grass. Not a single cloud obscured its light, and the heat was pleasant and dry rather than humid. It really was a rather lovely day.<p>

If only Candace hadn't pulled her usual 'running off to bust her brothers' thing during it, Jeremy thought.

Not that time just with Mr. and Mrs. Flynn-Fletcher wasn't nice, of course. They were charming, in their way, and Jeremy genuinely enjoyed spending time with them - just like the rest of his girlfriend's, well,_ interesting_ family. And it wasn't in any way a surprise; he'd have been more concerned were she still here. But he liked spending time with _her_. It would be a nice change if he got to, sometimes.

She'd fled only just after her brothers had gone, of course. Her initial resistance had failed as always; she had spent a painful two minutes twitching uncomfortably and forcing conversation before a long, high squeak had gone off noisily in the background. Whimpering low and loud, she had then sped away, with a growling and frustrated "Oh, I can't stand it!" as she went. Mrs. Flynn-Fletcher had given Jeremy a sympathetic smile, and pushed over the sandwich tray. Sandwiches made it better somehow, if only slightly.

Still, entertaining as her parents - and their sandwiches - were, Candace had been gone for a fair while now. Just about a long enough while to start causing Jeremy a little worry.

"Um, Mrs. Flynn-Fletcher?" he started, pushing himself up from the chequered picnic mat and approaching her.

She tore herself out of a conversation with her husband to sound a brief "Hmmm?"

"I'm gonna go check on Candace. You know, make sure she hasn't-"

"Oh my, yes!" she said, on a single, surprised note. "She's been gone too long. Maybe I'd better…"

Jeremy loosely shook his head in interruption, calmly smiling at her. "I'll go check on her," he informed Candace's mother with mild concern resting in his tone. He doubted he had reason to worry

Jeremy turned away, beginning to make his way from them. As he left he heard the voice of Mr. Flynn-Fletcher – "Oh, Dear, these pasties are marvellous, how _did_ you make them?" – slowly fade into the background.

He followed into the direction that the urge-to-bust-starting noise had earlier come from, though he could see nothing yet ahead of him. Insistently continuing on his way forward, he eventually found Phineas with his head dug deeply into a small, circular hole cut into the ground. His fingers were gripped around the edge of it as he knelt on the grass, and he seemed to be shouting instructions down into – whatever it was he'd put down there.

He couldn't see any sign of Candace.

"Phineas?" Jeremy began tentatively, scared that he would surprise Phineas whilst he hung in such an awkward position.

"-_and push the wheelbarrow to the edge of the trapdoor!_" the young boy called out."Huh?" he then added, hooking his head out of the ground. He turned a little jumpily to face the older boy. "Oh, hi Jeremy."

"Hiya, Phineas. Have you seen Candace around here?"

Phineas pushed his head up on one hand, pausing for a moment to think. "She came by earlier. I'm not sure where she went." He suddenly thrust his head back into the hole. "Now hang the fan over the entrance and I'll go get the fruit!" He pushed himself up to stand. "I'll tell Candace you were looking for her if I see her," he said, and walked away, apparently to get the fruit.

"Thanks!" he cried over to him as he left. Phineas continued walking, appearing not to have heard.

Jeremy sighed. So, Candace wasn't here? He thought that maybe she was just now dragging Mrs. Flynn-Fletcher over, screaming and cackling crazily as she went. He wondered how long ago she had been over here with her brothers, but Phineas had already walked far enough away that Jeremy could no longer see him.

She hadn't passed him on his way over, he reasoned. He guessed that she must have gone somewhere else, then. Right? Funny, though, Candace would barely ever miss an opportunity for Phineas and Ferb busting – she'd even happily carve a chance out for herself if one didn't present itself fast enough.

It was a big park, long and hilly expanses of grass stretching far outwards from where he stood. He felt as though he had been dropped right in the middle of a sunny, overgrown nowhere.

He walked away slowly with no particular direction, changing his way occasionally as slight hills rose and he avoided crossing damper ground. Those moist patches steadily grew larger and more frequent as he continued his extended, meandering stroll.

Surprise hit him when he found he was standing at the foot of an enormous lake. How long had that been sitting in front of him, he wondered vaguely?

It occurred to him then that it might have been a better idea just to wait for Candace back with her parents and food. He turned to look across the musky lake's shore, mud and rubbish gathered at its edges. As he moved a streak of orange, white, and distinctive reddish-pink flashed past in the corner of his eyes. A happy, relieved rush ran through him. Immediately, he hurried over towards her.

Candace was perched a large rock resting by the lake. Her head rested on her hand as she gazed out across the water. She sighed to herself.

"Candace?" Jeremy asked gently, making a slow way over to her as he dodged the less stable areas of ground.

"Wha-?" She jumped slightly as though she had been absorbed into her own thoughts. "Oh, Jeremy." Her head sunk back into her palm "Hi."

He climbed next to her on the rock, wobbling slightly and holding her arm to keep his balance. Her eyes widened slightly as she shuffled along the surface to make extra space for him.

"So, Candace?" he said, looking around to her. "Why are you out over here?" He offered her a soft smile. "Don't you have brothers to bust?"

"Yeah. I'll get to it. It's not like it'll make any difference. I'll get to Mom, it'll be gone." She waved her hands apart from each other in front of her face.

"Yeah," Jeremy said, a full smile growing on his face now. "That's never stopped you." It wore away as Candace sighed again.

"I know. I'm just sick of them always getting to-" Shock suddenly rose on her face. "Oh no! I'm forcing my feelings onto you and that's likely to make you feel alienated and threatened!"

Jeremy blinked. "What?" he asked flatly.

"It's what Stacy told-" she cut herself off and instead said quickly, "I mean I'm fine."

He laughed uneasily. "Candace, you're allowed to tell me how you feel," he said seriously. There was and awkward silence sitting between them for a few long moments. "You know that, right?" He placed a hand tenderly on her shoulder.

She leant slightly closer to him. "I guess," she murmured. "I mean, yeah. I do."

He pushed her up slightly by the shoulder so she was looking directly into his face. "So?"

"I've done nothing this summer!"

Jeremy frowned. "Eh, I'd say you've done kinda a lot."

Candace looked at him as though willing him to understand, the corners of her eyes stretching. "Sure, but not anything _I've_ wanted to do!"

"Okay, so… what do you want to do?"

Candace shrugged dejectedly. "I don't know. I'd just like to do something without my brothers messing it up."

"Right. I know. So, how about you let yourself have fun for once?"

Candace let out a long, tired breath. "I know, I know - just have fun. I want to. I really, really do. And I'm always like, I will, like with the Wizard and you were in your underwear! And I said I would!"

"When I was in-" he shook it away. "Candace, nobody's stopping you doing what you want to do."

"But Phineas and Ferb!" She brought her hands up to her head. "I can't just let them mess around with whatever they want to do. It- It's dangerous!" Her face became strained.

"They've never hurt themselves," Jeremy said, just slightly disbelieving.

She spoke suddenly softly, almost whimpering. "No, but, they always just do go ahead and do whatever they want, and - and I can't!" She pointed fiercely in the direction which Jeremy had come from as her voice rose. "And _I_ wanna do something fun for once!" Her voice became a high whine, and its suddenness made Jeremy flinch a bit. Not that he wasn't used to it. Still, she really did seem upset.

He put his arm gently round her and she quickly lent against him. "Hey," he comforted her gently. "Maybe you should, you know, go out sometime. Get away from your brothers. So you can't just run back to them, right?"

She snuggled closer to him, shutting her eyes. "Yeah…" she said, now far more quiet and calm. Jeremy smiled faintly at her rapid change of mood. She opened her eyes and sat up sharply. A loose grin broke out on her face. "With you?"

Jeremy laughed lightly. "Well, yeah. That is what I meant."

She nodded bouncily. "Yeah," she said, the word high and distant and drawn out. "When can we go?" she asked then, her voice dropping.

"I'll have a look tonight and call you, alright? But sometime this week."

She fell to his side again and sighed happily. They stayed like this for a few, wonderful minutes.

Suddenly stiffening, she flew up yet again. "Jeremy," she said flatly. She grabbed a hand tightly around his wrist. "We have to go."

She yanked him up from the rock, hurting his arm. He let out a small "Ow," but she didn't seem to notice.

"Candace, what're you-"

"Phineas and Ferb," she said, a slight growl tingeing the words. "I can't just _leave_ them doing…" She paused. "Urgh, whatever it is they're doing!" She stomped across the marsh, splashing water around her. "You're coming with me!" She told Jeremy as she pulled him along by the wrist. He leaped around the ground behind her, struggling too keep up as he dodged the puddles that coated the ground.

"Well, I'm glad to know you're feeling better!" he called to her in front of him.

"Mm-hm."

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><p>"Er, Mrs Flynn-Fletcher?"<p>

"Jeremy? Did you find Candace?"

"Yup. She… She says to tell you that Phineas and Ferb have built something, and it's underground, and _huge_, and you have to come see it. _Now!_ _Oooooh, they are soooo busted!_"

"I'm impressed. You have her voice spot on. Tell her I'm on my way."

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><p>Author's Note: I finally wrote a Phineas and Ferb fanfic! I'm sort of really happy about that, strangely. It wasn't particularly good, but still. Sorry if they're all kind of completely OOC, it's the first time I've even attempted to write them. And I know this whole fic was a bit pointless, but I really did enjoy writing it. Candace is a really fun character to write.<p>

Oh, and please don't question where this park is. It's just a park, that grew out of nothing. I don't know why they were there or how long it's existed in Danville. It's just a park, with a lake, that's only there because I needed it for the story.

Anyway, I'd love to get some feedback on this, just to know if it was decent or not. So I'd really appreciate it if you reviewed, even if you've nothing good to say.

Thanks for reading!


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